


who's gonna love you when i'm gone?

by their_dark_materials



Series: Robron Week 2018 [2]
Category: Emmerdale, robron
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friend Vanessa Woodfield, Brief mentions of Seb, Canon Compliant, Confronting Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Plans For The Future, Post-Canon, Post-Reunion 2018, Resolved Argument, Robron Week 2018, Sisters Scheming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 19:44:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14119545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/their_dark_materials/pseuds/their_dark_materials
Summary: “Alright you twos,” Vic announces as she steps into the room from one door, Liv from the other. “Whatever’s going on between you two, you’re going to fix it right now. You’re not leaving until you do. Even if it takes all night.”Or, when Robert and Aaron aren't communicating, Vic and Liv take matters into their own hands.Day 3: Distance/Separation





	who's gonna love you when i'm gone?

It barely takes a _day and a half_ for the whole village to notice that something’s up. That Robert and Aaron haven’t been speaking to each other, let alone hanging around in each other’s orbits like they _always_ do.

Chas asks Paddy about it over breakfast the next morning. ( _“Did something seem off about Aaron and Robert to you?”_ )

Tracy mentions it to Eric as they get set up for the day. ( _“Think we should prepare a room just in case?_ ”)

Even _Daz_ brings it up with Bernice during their usual morning phone call. ( _“Maybe you should go over to the scrapyard over lunch. I’m sure they could use some of your marvellous counselling.” “Well, I_ do _have a gift.”_ )

Liv is the first one to speak up, asking Gerry after tea if both men had had a row at the scrapyard or something. But the boy just shrugs, as puzzled as she is. “All I know is that it weren’t _my_ fault. They were laughing and texting each other when I left work.”

That’s not much of a surprise. On top of all the time they spend together at home _and_ at work, her brother and his husband _also_ manage to remain in frequent contact over text, constantly sending each other photos or jokes they think of during the day. How two people could be _this_ attached at the hip she’ll never understand. But she’s definitely grateful for it.

That’s why it’s _so_ noticeable when that isn’t the case.

For a second she thinks the worst; that maybe her family will be torn apart _again_. But that can’t be true, because they’d _both_ laughed at Gerry’s story over tea, even if they’d made a pointed effort _not_ to meet each other’s eyes in one of those knowing glances they _always_ seem to share. Liv’s certain they’d both opt to become telepathic if they could. And while that would be annoying at _any_ other point in time, today she practically longs for it. Because this concentrated effort to _not_ be as connected as they usually are is creating this weird, cloying atmosphere that none of them can seem to shake — even the usually unflappable Gerry, who’d become somewhat subdued after doing the dishes. (Frankly, that’s a bit of a relief because she’s not sure she can stand to look at _another_ image of Doug’s recent harvest and listen to Gerry’s story about how they perfected the manure concentration.)

When Aaron finally excuses himself to go to bed, a full _forty-five_ minutes after Robert heads upstairs, both teenagers breathe a sigh of relief, that cloud of angst seeming to follow the scruffy haired man as he departs.

“We _need_ to figure out what’s going on,” she tells Gerry, a determined glint in her eyes. “We can’t live like this.”

:::::

The next afternoon, Victoria catches her on her way back from school.

“Hey Liv,” the older woman greets her. “You wouldn’t happen to know what’s going on with Robert and Aaron would you? It’s not that I’m worried, it’s just… They don’t really seem quite like their usual selves.”

The teenager immediately lets all her worries spill. “I don’t know what it is. They were fine when I left for school last morning. And Gerry said they were okay when they were at work.”

“Then something must have happened _after_ work,” Vic quickly deduces. “We just have to figure out _what_.”

For a second Liv can see the Sugden family resemblance clearer than ever, and she smiles. It’s nice to know that worrying about your older brother’s love life is somewhat a universal experience.

They’re interrupted by Vanessa, who’s obviously on her way in to see Charity.

“Are you talking about Robert and Aaron?” She asks, clearly concerned. “Because Robert hasn’t mentioned him even _once_ today.”

Liv isn’t sure when it happened, but the vet and Robert are apparently best friends now or something. (She’d even come over last weekend to advise Robert and Aaron with babyproofing the current deathtrap that is their apartment.)

Vic’s already nodding and relaying their own concerns. “Do you think they got into some kind of fight after work?”

“Doesn’t seem like them,” Vanessa says, before lowering her voice and saying, “You don’t think one of them _cheated_ do you?”

Liv’s glad she said it because that thought’s been niggling at the back of her mind, but hearing it out loud and uttered by someone else reveals it to be such an inherently absurd idea, especially after she’s spent _weeks_ with Aaron and Robert both hovering around each other even when they _don’t_ have to, shooting lovesick looks at one another each time they think the other isn’t looking. (Which is, _somehow_ , incredibly rare.) It’s a wonder the house is as well-functioning as it is.

Victoria is clearly having the same thought because she just shakes her head immediately, “Don’t think Robert would _ever_ dare. Not after last time. It _has_ to be something else.”

“But what would they argue about?” Vanessa asks, looking from Vic to Liv and back again.

“The only thing I can think of is if Aaron called Robert _old_ or somethin’,” the teenager suggests. “But they’d _never_ argue over something _that_ stupid.”

Vic eyes her knowingly. “Oh don’t underestimate how much of a diva my brother can be. One time I called his shirt ‘a bit busy’ and he didn’t talk to me all morning.”

Vanessa rolls her eyes in amusement at that. “At least he didn’t _keep_ bringing it up during an _entire_ date. All _I_ did was tell Charity her shirt had an ‘interesting print.’”

Liv smiles at that. Because she’s heard Aaron say _way_ worse to Robert about _his_ clothing choices and somehow _those_ two are still together. (She actually quite likes how Robert’s always a little dressed up. Like he’s always ready to go on a date with Aaron at the drop of a hat. Looking at Vanessa, she suspects that maybe _she_ likes that about Charity too.)

“Has anyone just tried _asking_ them?” Vic suggests. But even as she says it she knows it’s a risky subject not worth the annoyance and snippiness of either man. Somehow when they fight, it’s _everyone else_ that seems to suffer.

Like right now.

Suddenly Liv knows how to fix it. Because there’s only one person who can deal with both men when they’re like this.

“I’ve got an idea,” she tells Vic and Vanessa, both women turning to her eager to hear the solution.

When she’s done, Vanessa has a nervous look on her face, while Vic is grinning.

“I’m not sure this’ll work,” the vet says.

But the younger Sugden just shakes her head. “No, Liv’s right. It’s the _only_ thing that’ll work. I’ll call Cain.”

:::::

“Alright, I’m here. What’s the big emergency?” Aaron asks, stomping into the kitchen later that evening.

Only the room is empty except for one sole occupant: Robert.

The older man looks up in surprise (and a quickly hidden sense of relief, like it’s been a struggle to remain this far away from his husband for what’s been an _entire_ day now).

“What are you doing here?” Aaron blurts out. Only it sounds more like, _Good. You’re here. I’ve missed you._

“Alright you twos,” Vic announces as she steps into the room from one door, Liv from the other. “Whatever’s going on between you two, you’re going to fix it _right now_. You’re not leaving until you do. Even if it takes _all night_.”

Robert opens his mouth to protest, but she just levels him with a firm stare and he quickly shuts up. Liv looks on in awe and makes a note to ask her for tips about it later.

“And don’t worry,” she continues. “Seb’s with Rebecca and Diane, and _I_ will make sure Liv and Gerry get their tea.”

“And _I’ve_ already done my homework for today,” Liv chimes in, knowing that one of them (probably Robert) is going to follow up on that.

“Great.” Vic declares. “Now _fix this_.”

And with that, both sisters step out their respective doors, locking them from the outside. They exchange smiles and head back out to the pub, momentarily putting aside their concern for their idiot big brothers.

:::::

They sit in silence for a good ten minutes, each trying to sneak looks at the other when the other _isn’t_ looking, before Aaron finally cracks.

“I _said_ I was sorry, Robert. I don’t know what else you want from me!” He says, both apologetic and frustrated. Not talking to his husband for as long as this has taken its toll on him, and he _does not_ like it.

But the older man just looks to the side, his stubbornness matching Aaron’s own.

“I’m not sure why you’re being _so_ sensitive,” he reasons, thinking back to the previous day, when all he’d done was make a joke as they’d been walking home. (He’d seen that something had been worrying the old man, and had hoped to lighten his mood, at least enough so they could talk about it. But somehow it had done the opposite, resulting in the situation they’re now in. It really is a new low when both your sisters have to lock you in a room to communicate.)

“It’s not like I haven’t called you _old_ before.”

Just like yesterday, Robert seems to flinch at the word. But _unlike_ yesterday, he looks directly at Aaron.

The younger man waits patiently for him to find the words.

One deep breath out later, he does. “Yeah, but I’ve never _felt_ so old before.”

And just like that, it feels like the air between them has cleared a little, like someone’s cracked open the window and released all the pressure that’s been building up.

For a second Aaron doesn’t know whether to keep a straight face or laugh out loud, but one look at Robert’s face gives him the answer.

“What do you mean?” He asks gently. “What happened between _yesterday_ and today that’s made ya feel this way?”

Robert lets out another deep breath, this one more of a sigh. “I was working on our insurance paperwork.”

“I don’t understand,” Aaron tells him. “What does homeowners insurance have to do with this?”

“Not that,” Robert corrects him. “ _Life_ insurance.”

“Oh,” Aaron says, suddenly getting it.

They sit in silence a little longer. But now, all the pressure has left the room, and instead, the space is filled with a sense of understanding — most of which has been generated by the younger man.

He finally says, “You know, I don’t like thinking about what’s going to happen when _you_ die either.”

Robert looks at him sharply when he says that. From the look on his face, it’s like the other man has physically _stabbed him in the heart_. Aaron immediately gets up from the dining room chair he’d chosen to sit on and joins him on the couch, taking the seat next to his and sliding their hands together, interlocking their fingers firmly. As always, Robert hardly puts up a fight. Given that they’ve managed to go _hours_ without any physical contact (even managing to fall asleep without _any_ limbs touching) the likelihood of that is _even_ lower.

Aaron continues, “But if I had a freakout and didn’t talk to _you_ everytime that happened, we’d hardly still be together, would we?”

Robert turns to look his husband in the eye as he nods in agreement.

The younger man then adds, “That’s why we _need_ to keep communicating. Especially since we’ve been doing _so well_ lately.”

Robert smiles at that. Because it’s true. They’ve both been making a real effort to talk about both their issues as they come up, and except for this last hiccough, they’ve been fairly successful. It’s actually remarkable how _healthy_ they’ve been acting. (Aaron’s _counsellor_ even commented on it in their last session, to Robert’s everlasting pride.)

“So _talk_ to me Robert. Tell me what’s wrong.”

And suddenly the dam he’s been building within himself bursts. Because _all_ he’s wanted to do for the last day is talk to Aaron about this. But the very thought of having to think about this stuff _hurts_. And he knows it’s not the mature way of dealing with this, but he _just_ got his husband and his family and his home back and the thought of losing all that at _any moment_ has been a living nightmare. Because even though he’d had to endure months of them not being together, _at least_ he could rest in the knowledge that Aaron was with someone treating him and Liv right (even if that someone _wasn’t_ him). Because he’s tried to go a _day_ without leaning on his husband it felt like someone cleaved his entire soul in _half_.

How is he meant to survive it if Aaron’s _actually_ gone?

Tears spring to his eyes as he tells his husband all of this, not holding a single thing back.

“And it’s not just _that_ ,” he says finally when he’s done pouring his heart out. “I’m worried about what will happen if _I_ go first. Because there’s a good chance that could happen, you know. I’ve already been shot, and hit by a car, _all_ before I even turn _30_.”

Robert lets out a long sigh, getting tenser as he shares each thought going through his head.

“Who’s going to look after Seb? And help Liv get through her A Levels? Or convince Gerry _not_ to waste his money on a stupid car? Or walk Vic down the aisle? Who’s going to pick out your suit at _my funeral_?”

Aaron manages to chuckle at the last one, even through his tears, because _of course_ , that’s a very real concern the man that he married would have.

That causes Robert to pause and look at him, a look of betrayal on his face. “ _What?_ The _least_ you could do while mourning me is look sharp.”

His words manage to do the _opposite_. Because all of a sudden, Aaron is giggling like a madman at the thought of his husband’s outraged ghost coming back from beyond the grave because of something as little as his wearing a mismatched shirt-and-tie combo.

Before long, it’s grown into an out-and-out _laugh_ , his shoulders shaking and the tears in his eyes turning into happy ones because sometimes his husband is _so goddamn reliable_.

“I love you. You know that?” He finally manages to say when he calms down, wiping errant tears with his free hand.

Only Robert doesn’t look too happy about the whole thing — or at least he’s _trying_ not to seem like Aaron’s laughter infected him too, but the slight quirk to his lips gives him away _instantly_. He hasn’t quite let on, but the younger man has long figured out that one of his favourite things is when he makes him laugh. _That’s_ why he’s always finding ways to get at his ticklish parts, or texting him silly jokes and images.

The thought of not having that anymore…

Well, it _hurts_.

But just dwelling on it isn’t going to help _either_ of them. And as much as he knows that Robert _knows_ that. He also knows that sometimes the older man needs to hear that, specifically from _him_.

“Sorry,” he apologises.

“It’s okay,” Robert says immediately. Because he would forgive Aaron the _world_ if he asked.

“It’s not,” the younger man states. “I know you’re worried about all this. And I am too. But worrying and not talking to each other isn’t going to help us. It’ll only make things worse.”

Robert turns his teary-eyed gaze to Aaron, waiting for him to continue. So he does. “The only way we can deal with all this stuff is by talking about it. And _maybe_ , we start preparing for it.”

The blonde considers his words and nods as he processes them.

Aaron takes that as his cue to keep talking. “Maybe we get Liv a tutor over the summer. And you can teach Gerry how to balance a chequebook. And _I_ can step in for Vic if needed. And maybe, you let me know which suit you’d like me to cry about ya in.”

Robert cracks a smile at that, letting out a reluctant chuckle.

“And maybe,” Aaron ventures, taking a deep breath before this final one suggestion. “Maybe we talk to Rebecca about _me_ formally adopting Seb. That way, in case anything happens, you’ll know I’ll be there for him. I mean, we’d have to do that with any kids we might have-”

He’s cut short by Robert’s lips on his own.

When the older man finally pulls away from the kiss, he leans his forehead on Aaron’s. “I love you _so_ much.”

Aaron smiles, and replies, “I love you too.”

When Robert does lean back, he seems a _lot_ lighter, like the weight of the world is off his shoulders. Finally, he smiles and says, “Sometimes I forget just how smart you are.”

“Didn’t just marry me for my _looks_ , did ya?” Aaron teases, it finally his chance to be the smug one.

“No,” Robert agrees, because there’s no universe in which he’s able to refuse an opportunity to compliment the man next to him. “Not just for your _looks_.”

He leans forward and kisses Aaron again, but this time with everything he has, his free hand snaking up to hold the other man’s jaw. The younger man reciprocates because _24_ hours is _too_ long a wait for one of his husband’s kisses.

When they finally break apart, both panting slightly, he brings up something _else_ he’s been thinking of.

“I know Jimmy hasn’t been much help, but maybe _I_ could help you out with Home James?”

Robert gives him a curious look, but this suggestion doesn’t dim the look on his face, which Aaron takes as a good thing.

“I know how much this business means to ya,” Aaron tells him. “You’ve put a lot of effort into running it. And _should_ anything ever happen to you, at least it’ll be able to continue. Sides, Nicola’s always helping Jimmy with it. And it doesn’t seem to affect _them_ much.”

Robert lets out a groan at the suggestion. “ _Please_ don’t compare us to Nicola and _Jimmy_.”

“Why not?” Aaron teases, happy to finally be able to joke around again. “Fur coats not your thing?”

He’s never been so happy to hear Robert Sugden laugh.

:::::

Seeing as they have 24 hours of being apart (despite it being of their own volition) to make up for, they both agree _not_ to call Vic and Liv to tell them that they’ve settled it. They haven’t _really_ , but they’ve begun talking about it and made an appointment with Robert’s solicitor, which is a damn fine start. ( _“Surprised she hasn’t dumped you as a client.” “With what I’m paying her? I’m sure she’s already eyeing a_ second _house.”_ )

That settled, Robert gets on with the very important business of making them their tea. He knows he can just ask Vic to _make_ them something, but he likes cooking for Aaron, and he’s decided he’s going to make the most of _every_ moment they’ve got. Because if there’s one thing today’s reminded him of. He’s not going to take a single minute of their time together for granted. And judging, by the way, Aaron’s standing there right next to him, buttering some toast, he feels exactly the same way.

:::::

It takes even _less_ time for the village to realise that Robert and Aaron have sorted out whatever it was eating away at them.

Moira informs Cain as they both get ready for work. ( _“Looks like your lie helped after all.”_ )

Doug tells Diane about it as they sip their morning tea. ( _“Another crisis averted, I suppose.”_ )

Vanessa wakes Charity up to show her Tracy’s texted photo of both men walking together, big smiles on their faces. ( _“I’m so glad they worked things out. Good for them!” “Babe, this is_ not _what I meant by ‘wake me up if there’s an emergency.”_ )

Liv stops off at Victoria’s cottage to let her know the good news in person — _and_ to say hi. As it happens, she’d discovered that she quite likes spending time with the other woman, never really having gotten a chance to before. It’s nice to have someone who _completely_ gets what it’s like dealing with both men and just how _silly_ they can be. Besides, Vic’s full of great stories of Aaron’s youth and Liv treasures each tidbit more than the other. (She'd never realised that Vic had spent so much time away from  _her_ big brother as well.) 

“Everything’s back to normal now,” she says, thinking back to breakfast and how Robert and Aaron couldn’t stop smiling at each other. It would have turned her stomach if she hadn’t been so _relieved_ to see that. “Well, normal, but also somehow _better_. I don’t know what it was, but they seem a lot _closer_ now.”

“Oh _good_ ,” Vic says, turning her head to her side as she thinks of her brother and her friend. “I wasn’t really worried, but I’m glad they’re doing better. And that was a great idea, by the way. Lockin’ them up _together_. They _really_ are the _only_ people who can manage _each other_.”

She pauses as she thinks about it. “Well, except for _us_.”

Liv smiles in agreement. “Honestly, what would they do without us?”

**Author's Note:**

> This actually started as something that was meant to be light and funny and about Robert not handling aging well, but instead, it turned into... this. I just really wanted to explore both guys being separated without them really having an argument, while also tackling how much progress they've made in terms of communication. Hopefully, I pulled that off. I also really, really wanted Liv and Vic to work together on something because I love that they're both sisters to the most dramatic men alive, but have never really had a chance to bond over that. 
> 
> As always, let me know if something felt ooc so I can fix it, and apologies for any mistakes, this was barely edited. Hit me up with any thoughts, comments, questions, and concerns. You can also find me over on Tumblr as rustandruin.


End file.
